To further ecological, social and economic well-being, FES:

  1. Promotes the decentralisation of natural resource management by aiding informed, local-level, collective action.

  2. Demonstrates the importance of conservation by focusing on Commons within the larger landscape.

  3. Assists local communities to secure rights over shared natural resources, improve local governance and access public funds to restore local ecosystems.

To address the critical task of Commons restoration, FES centre-stages local communities as stewards capable of leading local action, and promotes working on Commons within the larger landscape.

This enhances local employment, livestock production, farm productivity and the overall returns that are within the ecological thresholds of the area.

By working across varied ecological and cultural settings, FES contributes to the widespread recognition of Common Property Regimes as a promising option, alongside centralised or individual property regimes. Instead of a nature or people-centric approach, FES reinforces socio-ecological thinking for improved governance of resource systems and local stewardship.

Forests contribute positively to key ecological functions: improved transfer of nutrients, longer periods of water flow, moisture retention, and better pollination and pest control.

FES views forests as part of the larger physical, social, and economic landscape, and works with forest-dependent communities to plan preservation, conservation, and utilisation of these shared natural resources.

FES thus helps build a larger farmer constituency for forest conservation, where the continuum of forests, agriculture and economic opportunities are appreciated together.

Forests in a Landscape Forests in a Landscape

Efforts to build interlinkages between agriculture, livestock, and Commons find ready acceptance in rural communities; local action to restore Commons sets the stage for collective decision-making on crop choices and judicious use of land and water resources.

FES recognises the value of the interconnections within the larger farming system, and engages with local communities to address subsistence requirements, generate incomes, and influence choices that impact ecological thresholds over a period of time.

Farm and Farming Systems Farm and Farming Systems

The role of Panchayats and Gram Sabhas (in Scheduled Areas) in thegovernance of shared natural resources builds the democratic character of our decentralised governance architecture.

FES helps Panchayats develop Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDP) and plan for restrictions on groundwater mining, better sanitation, and protection of grazing land. In doing so, we restore the agency of rural communities to improve collective action, democratise the functioning of local institutions, and devise institutional spaces that safeguard the interests of the poor.

Working with Panchayats Working with Panchayats

The degradation of Commons can be attributed to weak tenure rights, erosion of local institutions, and the misplaced belief that local communities are ineffective managers of their shared natural resources.

FES aids communities secure tenure over their Commons. Where the Forest Rights Act applies, communities are supported to claim rights over Commons as community forests. Where there are wastelands, we help village communities acquire long-term leases, and claim for increases in pastures. We also enable local communities to map their common lands (wastelands and pastures) and register them in the prohibitory order book or Panchayat Asset Register, to limit their diversion to other uses.

Tenure over Commons Tenure over Commons

FES believes that any financial investments need to be backed by institutional ones, to build durable community assets and provide wage employment for benefits in the long term.

FES supports Panchayats to align their Commons’ restoration plans with the Right to Employment Act. We also assist in establishing democratic and transparent decision-making systems that enable local level institutions to effectively implement programmes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

Right to Employment and Resources Right to Employment and Resources